Explosive bomb or weapon casing



April 4, 1961 H. A. PERRY, JR.; ET AL 2,977,885

ExPLosIvB BoMB 0R wEAPoN cAsING Filed March 7. 1955 FlG.7. 1

FIGJ.

INVENTORS R. C. McGlLL H. A. PERRY Jr "United Sme-S 2l'lient A 2,977,885 nXPLosIvE noMB on wEAPoN cAslNG Henry A. Perry, Jr., Laytonsville, and Russell C, McGill,

. Silver Spring, Md., assignors America as representedby the Secretary of 'the Navy The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for-*the Government of Ythe United States 'of America for governmental purposes withoutA the payment of any royalties thereon or therefor.

This invention relates to explosive structural material and more particularly to metal reinforced explosive material useful asa casing for explosives in weapons such .Y as bombs, mines, and depth charges.

YCommonly used explosives do not have sufficient f strength without reinforcement to withstand stresses and impacts encountered prior to detonation, and heretofore inert solid casing materials such as metals and reinforced plastics have been employed as weapon casing material. l Theuse of these inert weapon casings results in a reduced ratiooftexplosive weight to overall weapon weight, and

thus in a corresponding reduction in net available explosive power for a given weapon weight. Therefore, if

i van explosive structural material having sufficientv strength forA use as a weapon casing replaced the commonly used inert casing, a Weapon of a given weight employing a casing material capable of participating in the explosion .of the weapon. would have greatly` increased explosive power.

The present invention describes novel explosive struc- 'tural materials and processes for constructing explosive weapon casings therefrom. In vaccordance with this invention metal reinforced explosive weapon casings are to the United StatesV of Y Patented Apr. 4,` 1961 ice Fig. 13 is a view inperspective of a portion of a typical casing partly broken awayto illustrate the construction of the wall'thereof. l

Referring rnow to the drawing, 1 designates a continuous sheet or screen-like reinforcing material, which may be of metal such, for example, as aluminum or magnesium, and 2 designatesV a suitable thermoplastic explosive binder or a binder system containing explosive, such, for example, yas, trinitrotoluene or anepoxy'resin with powdered explosive dispersed therethrough.

- More'particularly, Figs. 1,/3,-10 and 12 illustrate'preferred forms of the-'novel explosiveLstrnctural material of this invention made inthe'formof'a laminate comprising metal foil land explosive binder 2. The metal reinforcing material may be initheV form-of smooth continuous sheets of foil as shownfiri Figs'.4 lland' 3, or in the form of continuous corrugated sheets of metal foil as shown in Figs. l and l2. Either the smooth or corrugated sheets of foil maybe perforated, asshown in Figs. 3 and l2. The perforations 3 in the metal foil 1 may be in any suitable design, Figs'. 2 and 1l illustrating a preferred'design. The explosive binder 2 may be of any Y suitable thermoplastic explosive, such as for example, trinitrotoluene or a binder system containing explosive.

Figsf4, 6,7, 8 and 9 are illustrative of other preferred forms of the explosive structural'materials of this inven- V tion wherein Vmetal foil 1, such as magnesium or aluminum ifoil, is first assembled` into a desired structure and then this structure impregnated with an explosive binder 2 such as nitrocellulose or a binder system containing explosive. The metal foil 1 may likewise be in any suitable coniguration, such as continuous smooth or corrugated sheets, or arranged in a honeycomb-like structure as shown in Fig. 7. Smooth and corrugated layers of metal foil 1 may be arranged alternately, as shown in Figs. 4 and 6, to thereby space adjacent layers of foil and form voids 4 which are then impregnated with explosive binder 2. The layers of metal foil 1 may be permanently joined at abutting points 5 by any suitable provided which are approximately equal, for a givenv weight, in explosive power, blast 4and bubble energy to the main charge employed in the-weapon,- and that have suficient strength to resist'stresses and impacts encountered by vthe '-weapon during handling :thereof prior to detonation. Thus a weapon of a given Iweight employing the novel casing of this invention has approximately the "same available explosive power as the same weight of explosive.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a metallized explosive structural material which is approximately equal in explosive power per unit weight to the Iexplosive binder employed therein.

' It is -another object of the present invention to provide an explosive weapon casing which is approximately equal in explosive power for a given weight as the main charge 1 employed in the weapon.

It is a further object of the present invention to pro- -vide a process for producing explosive weapon casings from the novel structural materials described herein.

Further objects and many of the attendant advantages 'of the-present'invention will become apparent to those Askilled in the art as Athe same becomes better understood by referencev to the following detailed description, when `Vconsidered inconnection with the accompanying drawing, which illustrates `certain modifications of the invention. y

Figs. 1, 3, 4, 6 through l0, and 12 are enlarged diagrammatic sections of certain preferred forms of the metal i" reinforced explosive structural materialof this invention.

Figs. 2, 5 and 11 are plan views of Figs. 3,6, and 12, respectively. I v,

Y ner thereby strengthening the structure.

method, 'such as by means-of an adhesive, if a particularly rigid structure is desired. Figs, 8 and 9 illustrate a preferred arrangement, thev metal foil 1 Vtherein being composed entirely of corrugated layers of metal foil 1 to form voids 4, which are then impregnated with explosive binder 2. The adjacent layers abutting at points 5 may likewise be permanently joined in'any suitable man- Either the smooth or corrugated layers of metal foil 1 may be perforated as shown at 3 in Figs. 6 and 9 to provide means .for interlocking layers of explosive binder 2 through the perforations, and thus further enhance the strength of the structure. Fig. 5 illustrates a preferred design for such perforations 3 in metal foil 1.

Explosive structural material of this invention in the form of a multi-layer laminate of metal foil and explosive binder may be made in any suitable manner. A

preferred procedure is to bond perforated layers of metal foil with layers of a suitable explosive binder such as nitrocellulose or trinitrotoluene about .003-004 inch thick at temperatures of approximately the melting point Vof the particular explosive binder employed. Suiiicient pressure is applied to force the molten 4binder into intimate contact with the metal foil and force the explosive binderV through perforations in the metal Vfoil,'thereby interlocking'a'djacent'layers of the binder. The explosive laminate thus produced may be formed into any desired structure, such astubular body portions for a weapon casing, by heating the laminate to the'melting point of the particular explosive binder 'employed androlling, or by any other suitable method to form a kdesired shape.

. Alternately, 'or to produce compound: shapes, the metal ,Y foil may be ,coatedwith a layer ofexplosive binden; the

1,767,182 Lisse June 24, 1930 

